Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Surveillance, correlation, and transmission functions are basic to the role of mass media in society. Surveillance means locating and disseminating →  news and →  Information . Correlation deals with interpreting and editorializing about this information (→  Commentary ). Transmission is the socialization of norms, →  attitudes , and values between groups and generations ( Lasswell 1948 ). Socialization research, for example, has compared the effectiveness of different agencies of socialization, such as the family, peers, teachers, and the media, for fostering information gain or molding attitudes about groups and society (→  Socialization by the Media ). When performing their several functions, media can have positive or negative consequences. For example, reporting about societal threats can provide instrumental information and needed warnings for a society, but also may induce panic and anxiety (→  Fear Induction through Media Content ). Watching more news- and public-affairs-type programs may be instrumental for gaining information about societal and political structures, but watching greater amounts of →  Television , in general, may be dysfunctional for acquiring such specific information ( Rubin 1978 ). In their analysis of coverage of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US, Li and Izard confirmed the functions of the media during a crisis to “inform, ... log in or subscribe to read full text